FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE Release Notes

The FreeBSD Project

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Last modified on 2019-11-05 17:06:33 by gjb.

Abstract

The release notes for FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE contain
a summary of the changes made to the FreeBSD base system on the
12-STABLE development line. This document lists
applicable security advisories that were issued since the last
release, as well as significant changes to the FreeBSD kernel and
userland. Some brief remarks on upgrading are also
presented.

1.Â Introduction

This document contains the release notes for FreeBSD
12.1-RELEASE. It describes recently added, changed, or
deleted features of FreeBSD. It also provides some notes on
upgrading from previous versions of FreeBSD.

The release distribution to
which these release notes apply represents the latest point
along the 12-STABLE development branch since
12-STABLE was created. Information regarding pre-built,
binary release distributions along this branch can be
found at https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/.

The release distribution to
which these release notes apply represents a point along the
12-STABLE development branch between 12.0-RELEASE and
the future 12.2-RELEASE. Information regarding pre-built,
binary release distributions along this branch can be
found at https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/.

All users are encouraged to consult the release errata
before installing FreeBSD. The errata document is updated with
“late-breaking” information discovered late in the
release cycle or after the release. Typically, it contains
information on known bugs, security advisories, and corrections
to documentation. An up-to-date copy of the errata for FreeBSD
12.1-RELEASE can be found on the FreeBSD Web site.

This document describes the most user-visible new or changed
features in FreeBSD since 12.0-RELEASE. In general, changes
described here are unique to the 12-STABLE branch unless
specifically marked as MERGED features.

Typical release note items document recent security
advisories issued after 12.0-RELEASE, new drivers or hardware
support, new commands or options, major bug fixes, or
contributed software upgrades. They may also list changes to
major ports/packages or release engineering practices. Clearly
the release notes cannot list every single change made to FreeBSD
between releases; this document focuses primarily on security
advisories, user-visible changes, and major architectural
improvements.

2.Â Upgrading from Previous Releases of FreeBSD

[amd64,i386] Binary upgrades between RELEASE versions
(and snapshots of the various security branches) are supported
using the freebsd-update(8) utility. The binary upgrade
procedure will update unmodified userland utilities, as well as
unmodified GENERIC kernels distributed as a part of an official
FreeBSD release. The freebsd-update(8) utility requires that
the host being upgraded have Internet connectivity.

Source-based upgrades (those based on recompiling the FreeBSD
base system from source code) from previous versions are
supported, according to the instructions in
/usr/src/UPDATING.

Important:

Upgrading FreeBSD should only be attempted after backing up
all data and configuration files.

3.Â Security and Errata

This section lists the various Security Advisories and
Errata Notices since 12.0-RELEASE.

10.1.Â Packaging Changes

The KDE desktop environment
has been updated to version 5.16.5.19.08.1.

11.Â General Notes Regarding Future FreeBSD Releases

11.1.Â Default CPUTYPE Change

Starting with FreeBSD-13.0, the default
CPUTYPE for the i386
architecture will change from 486 to
686.

This means that, by default, binaries produced will
require a 686-class CPU, including but
not limited to binaries provided by the FreeBSDÂ Release
Engineering team. FreeBSDÂ 13.0 will continue to support
older CPUs, however users needing this
functionality will need to build their own releases for
official support.

As the primary use for i486 and i586
CPUs is generally in the embedded market,
the general end-user impact is expected to be minimal, as new
hardware with these CPU types has long
faded, and much of the deployed base of such systems is
nearing retirement age, statistically.

There were several factors taken into account for this
change. For example, i486 does not have 64-bit atomics, and
while they can be emulated in the kernel, they cannot be
emulated in the userland. Additionally, the 32-bit amd64
libraries have been i686 since their inception.

As the majority of 32-bit testing is done by developers
using the lib32 libraries on 64-bit hardware with the
COMPAT_FREEBSD32 option in the kernel,
this change ensures better coverage and user experience.
This also aligns with what the majority of LinuxÂ®
distributions have been doing for quite some time.